WBHS Sports

The early-season success continued for the Winder-Barrow High School football team Friday night.
The Bulldoggs (3-0) defeated Northview High School 38-14 with an impressive, physical performance at W. Clair Harris Stadium. WBHS is 3-0 for the first time since the 2007 season when that year’s team started 4-0.
“The win felt pretty good,” said Bulldogg coach Heath Webb. “Our offensive line is playing well. They were physically dominant tonight. Northview brought a lot of pressure with their blitzes.”
WBHS led 32-7 at halftime and used a first-quarter fumble return for a touchdown to seize early momentum. Northview took the game’s opening kickoff and put together an impressive drive beginning at its own 20-yard line. The Titans ran seven plays and gained three first downs before Josh Sims picked up a fumble and raced 88 yards for a touchdown.
That play seemed to set the tone and take some of the wind out of Northview’s sails.
Harlin Brown kicked a 34-yard field on Winder-Barrow’s first offensive series, capping a drive which began the Bulldogg 47-yard line following a facemask penalty during a punt by Northview.
The Titans stayed in the game on a 13-yard run with 3:00 left in the opening quarter to cut the WBHS lead to 10-7.
Sims then scored on offense on a 2-yard run with 38 seconds left in the first quarter as WBHS moved in front 17-7 following Brown’s point after kick.
The Bulldoggs added another first-half touchdown on a 10-yard run by Jamar Mack with 6:09 left before halftime. Trace Wells saved the conversion by firing a pass to Sterling Sumpter for 2 points and a 25-7 advantage.
Mack added one final score before halftime on a 2-yard run with 44 seconds left in the quarter.
Senior quarterback Brock Landis capped the Bulldogg scoring with an impressive 45-yard run with 1:00 left in the third quarter.
Helping clear the way for the Winder-Barrow offense were linemen James Freeman, Tyreek Norman, Joey Kiemm, Mario Lopez and Trey Hill.
Webb also credited the defensive coaching staff and players for some in-game adjustments.
“They did a good job of adjusting to the quarterback run that Northview was having success with,” Webb said. “Our coaches relayed the information to our players well and our players did a great job of making those adjustments.”
The Bulldoggs are off next Friday and will return to action Sept. 15 at Loganville High School.
See more high school football coverage in the Sept. 6 print edition of the Barrow News-Journal.

Sitting at 2-0 for the first time since 2007, the Winder-Barrow High School football program is in no way satisfied.
With plenty of road remaining in front of them in 2017, the Bulldoggs return home Friday night to face a tough Northview High School opponent which lost its only game this season in overtime to Lanier last week.
Still, Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb can sense the excitement building for this year’s Bulldogg team.
“We have played pretty well,” Webb said. “One of the best parts of the season is we have a group of players who go out and play for each other. We don’t have any drama and there are no riffs in the locker room. It’s been fun. I don’t know how many games we will end up winning but the attitude of the players has made it great to be around them. They work hard for each other.”
Northview enters the season with a new coaching staff. James Thompson is in his first season coaching in Georgia in fact.
“We only have one game to work with,” Webb said. “They look well-coached from what we’ve seen on that one game on film. They went toe-to-toe with Lanier and probably should have beaten them. They gave them all they wanted.”
In breaking down Northview, Webb said this Friday’s opponent runs a multiple offense using the I formation and including the traditional pro I set as well as some five-wides with an empty backfield look.
Defensively, Northview likes to bring plenty of pressure.
“They blitz from every angle,” Webb said. “It will be a challenge for our offensive line and running backs. They mix up their blitzes well so there are no tendencies you can look for. It seems random but I’m sure they have a plan.”
Kickoff Friday is set for 7:30 p.m. at W. Clair Harris Stadium.
See the full story in the Aug. 30 issue of the Barrow News-Journal.

Winder-Barrow softball coach Lee Smoak believes pitching and defense are the strength of his team, and Bulldogg senior pitcher Alexis Berry and company proved that Tuesday.
Berry tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just three hits and a pair of hit batsmen while striking out eight in a 7-0 win over Gainesville in a GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA game at the Charles W. Maddox Baseball/Softball Complex.
“Alexis throws a lot of strikes and does a good job moving the ball around and forcing contact,” Smoak said after the win. “Overall it was a good region win for us. We had to play some backups today because we had two starters hurt. So it was a good day to get those girls in there and we got to sub in a lot of girls who got some valuable playing experience.”
Winder-Barrow (5-6, 3-0 region) gave Berry all the support she would need early, tagging Gainesville pitcher Lindsey Ledford for five runs — all with two outs — on five hits in the bottom of the first inning.
Emily Ferguson led off with a base hit, stole second and eventually scored on an RBI single by Rose Johnson. A double into the left-centerfield gap by Bekah Freeman plated Johnson, and then RBI singles by Ashley Everett and Kaylee Valdez made it 4-0. The Bulldoggs added a fifth run when Emilie Elrod reached on an error.
Winder-Barrow scratched across another run in the third when Berry hit a one-out double and courtesy runner Rachel Harwell scored on a throwing error by the Gainesville third baseman.
The Bulldoggs padded the lead some more an inning later on a sacrifice fly by Karli Whitaker that chased Ferguson home.
The win for the Bulldoggs, sets up a showdown at crosstown rival Apalachee at 5:55 p.m. Thursday. The Wildcats (6-5, 3-0) also are still unbeaten in region play after winning 13-5 at Habersham Central on Tuesday.
“Apalachee is strong this year from everything I’ve heard,” Smoak said. “It’s going to be a tough game. We’re going to have to bring everything we’ve got and be sharp. I like our odds with how we’ve been playing defensively.”
The Bulldoggs, who were scheduled to travel to Archer for a non-region game Wednesday, will enter Thursday’s game against the Wildcats battle-tested.
Three of their six losses have come against state champions from last season — North Gwinnett (Class AAAAAAA), Buford (AAAAA) and Harlem (AA).
“We’ve been taking our knocks with the non-region games, but I’m fine with that because it’s only making us better,” Smoak said.

LOGANVILLE — Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb’s halftime message Friday to his team, which carried a 16-point lead at Walnut Grove into the locker room but was out of sync with several penalties and a turnover in the red zone, was simple: “Calm down and play ball.”
It’s safe to say the Bulldoggs heeded that advice.
Winder-Barrow scored four second-half touchdowns and blew the game open in the fourth quarter on its way to a dominating 47-22 win over the Warriors.
The victory gave the Bulldoggs their first 2-0 start since 2007.
“The first half was sloppy, no doubt. There were far too many mistakes, far too many penalties, and we just didn’t play as cleanly as we needed to,” Webb said. “Luckily, we were talented enough to make some plays to have a lead there at the half and our kids did a much better job in the second half. Forty-seven points is a bunch against anybody so I’m happy about that. And even our young guys that came in late played hard so that’s encouraging, too.”
The final margin was only as close as it was after the Warriors (0-1) scored three touchdowns on the Bulldogg backups in the fourth quarter, including two in the final minute and one on the last play of the game.
But that wasn’t before Winder-Barrow senior quarterback Brock Landis put on a clinic, throwing for 265 yards and five touchdowns to five different receivers on 16-of-23 passing with just one interception.
His first came midway through the second quarter when Lamonta Mack hauled in a 25-yard pass — while being closely defended by a Walnut Grove defensive back — to cap a four-play, 49-yard drive and put the Bulldoggs up 13-3.
The Bulldoggs recovered a fumble at the Walnut Grove 24 on the ensuing possession and got down inside the 10 before a holding penalty pushed them back to the 18 with a third down-and-goal situation. Disaster nearly struck for the Doggs when a low snap trickled past Landis and sent him back near his 40. But Landis alertly scooped the ball up, avoided Warrior rushers and heaved a touchdown pass to a wide-open Trace Wells, who had snuck in behind the secondary, to extend the lead to 19-3.
After Landis threw an interception to start the second half, Peige Moore came up with his second interception on the night for the Bulldoggs. Landis took things from there, carving up huge gaps between the Warrior linebackers and safeties and eventually finding Tyreek Perkins from 12 yards out for another score.
Josh Sims blocked a punt for Winder-Barrow on the next drive and just one play later, Landis found Jaidon Turner from 34 yards out to make it 33-3. The Bulldoggs would once again take advantage of a short field when a 10-yard punt by the Warriors gave them the ball at the Walnut Grove 23 and Landis needed just a few plays before connecting with Hunter Shipp on a 4-yard touchdown pass.
“I feel like we’ve got playmakers everywhere and that kind of showed tonight,” Webb said. “We’re getting better and I think we’re going to be difficult to defend because we can run the ball behind a really good offensive line and we’ve got some good playmakers at receiver.
“I feel like things are trending in the right direction.”
—
WB 6 13 7 21 — 47
WG 3 0 0 19 — 22
WB—Sterling Sumpter 1 run (kick failed)
WG—Will Busbee 28 field goal
WB—Brock Landis 25 pass to Lamonta Mack (Harlan Brown kick)
WB—Landis 18 pass to Trace Wells (kick failed)
WB—Landis 12 pass to Tyreek Perkins (Brown kick)
WB—Landis 34 pass to Jaidon Turner (Brown kick)
WB—Landis 4 pass to Hunter Shipp (Brown kick)
WG—Colby Bell 11 run (pass failed)
WB—Aiden Smith 30 run (Brown kick)
WG—Bell 75 pass to Blake McCoy (Busbee kick)
WG—Bell 21 pass to Gunnar Samuelson (no PAT attempt, last play of game)

With his team coming off an exciting win over highly-touted Clarke Central in its season opener last week, Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb said the biggest thing the Bulldoggs will have to guard against this week at Walnut Grove is overconfidence.
“We played really well and beat a good team,” Webb said of the 35-28 victory against Clarke Central. “But that doesn’t mean a whole lot if we don’t use it the right way. We have to make sure we take care of Walnut Grove now.
“If we’re still looking back and still celebrating about Clarke Central, we’ll get beat Friday.”
The Bulldoggs will be vying for their first 2-0 start since 2007 when they visit Walnut Grove for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday in Loganville.
The Warriors, who will be playing their first game of the season, are a bit of a mystery at the moment, Webb said. He pointed to the fact that the Warriors lost several key players off last year’s team, which went 4-7 and reached the first round of the GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs.
“We’ve really only had a little bit of film from their scrimmage to go by and we’ve looked a lot at last year’s game to try to prepare,” said Webb, whose Bulldoggs steamrolled Walnut Grove 41-7 a year ago. “I think it’ll be a lot similar to what we saw a year ago. They’ll run out of a spread offense with a four-man front on defense. But we just don’t know a whole lot beyond that. They’re breaking in a bunch of new starters and it’s kind of hard to gauge them.
“We’ll approach it in a similar way to how we approached our scrimmage (against Flowery Branch). We’re going to take care of ourselves and try to go out there and do what we’re supposed to do.”
See the full story in the Aug. 23 issue of the Barrow News-Journal.

Rose Johnson and Jakayla Sullivan drove in a pair of runs apiece, and Johnson delivered a complete-game gem in the circle Tuesday as Winder-Barrow knocked off Habersham Central 5-2 on the road to kick off its GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA schedule.
The Bulldoggs (3-4, 1-0 region) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI groundout by Sullivan. They extended that lead to 3-0 in the third. Tiffany Watkins hit a one-out double, moved to third on a single by Olivia Barrera and then scored on an error by the Raider catcher. Barrera later scored when Johnson grounded into a fielder’s choice. Winder-Barrow padded its lead again in the fifth when Watkins led off with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice by Sullivan, and Sullivan came on a double by Johnson.
Watkins led the Bulldoggs at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Barrera added two hits.
Johnson finished the night allowing just the two runs, one earned, on six hits while striking out one and not issuing any walks.
Winder-Barrow returns to action Thursday when it hosts Lanier in another region game beginning at 5:55 p.m.

Winder-Barrow High School junior girls cross country runner Kacie Wilson won the Loganville Christian Academy Invitational Aug. 19, posting a time of 21:31.98, 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Julia Del Bosque from Holy Spirit Prep.
The Lady Bulldoggs finished fourth overall out of 16 teams at the meet, behind Heritage High School, Trinity Christian, Sharpsburg and Loganville. Junior Haeden Fura (14th, 23:55.93) and senior Sarah-Grace Weatherford (15th, 24:04.55) also placed in the top 20 out of the 75-runner field.
Apalachee’s girls finished fifth overall and were led by senior Molly Silva, who was 10th place with a time of 23:46.09.
On the boys side, Winder-Barrow finished fourth overall, behind Trinity Christian, Loganville and Morgan County, and was led by senior Jake Martinez, who took seventh place with a time of 18.47.84. Senior Cody Boles (19:25.35) finished 17th and sophomore Mason Ayer (19:35.34) finished 20th.
Apalachee was led by sophomore Kevin Ellington, who finished 10th (18.58.45).
Trinity’s Hans Troyer won the boys race, posting a time of 17:22.09.
Winder-Barrow’s teams will be in action again Saturday in the North Georgia Championships at Lamar Murphy Park in Jefferson.
Apalachee’s teams return to action Sept. 2 at the Jekyll Island Invitational.

With just over five minutes left in Winder-Barrow’s season opener against Clarke Central on Friday night at W. Clair Harris Stadium, Bulldogg quarterback Brock Landis had the Gladiators right where he wanted them.
With the Bulldoggs starting at their 25-yard line following a fumble recovery, the senior was looking to engineer a game-winning drive.
Landis did just that, hitting Noah McDowell on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone with 1:57 left to give Winder-Barrow a 35-28 lead. Moments later, Bulldoggs safety Cole Walton intercepted a Jack Mangel pass to nail down the non-region win and avenge a season-opening 31-0 loss to the Gladiators in Athens a year ago.
“We owed Clarke Central that one,” Landis said after the victory. The 6-foot-4 NCAA Division I recruit finished the night with 155 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns. His two biggest throws came on the final drive — a 15-yarder to Trace Wells, who hauled in a high and tight pass on third down to give the Bulldoggs a fresh set of downs at the Clarke Central 25, and the game-winner to McDowell.
“As a quarterback, you live for those moments,” Landis said of the final drive. “You’ve just got to stay calm, cool and collected and just go out there and do your thing and trust your teammates to make plays.”
Landis’ composure gave Winder-Barrow coach Heath Webb all the confidence he needed in his quarterback to go win the game.
“That’s why he has the job and the experience,” Webb said. “We trust him to make plays. He did exactly what we asked of him, and then we were able to win the ballgame with a great defensive stand and the pick there at the end.
“We beat a very good football team. I’m just proud of our guys for fighting. I don’t know any other way to describe it other than we just fought and made plays when we needed to.”
It was by no means an easy for the Bulldoggs, who broke open a 7-7 halftime tie with three touchdowns in the span of just over four minutes early in the third quarter — only to see the Gladiators roar back with three scores of their own to knot it at 28.
Senior two-way starter Jaidon Turner, a transfer from Brookwood, returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown to put the Bulldoggs ahead 14-7 with 10:58 left in the third. Earlier, he had hauled in a 26-yard pass from Landis to give Winder-Barrow the early advantage.
“Jaidon got us jumpstarted tonight,” Webb said. “He’s a heck of a player. He made some great plays on both sides of the ball. You can see his athleticism in the open field. He’s just very tough to tackle when he gets going and he’s going to make a lot of plays for us this year.”
Following the pick-six, the Bulldoggs caught another break when Clarke Central’s kick returner fielded a low line drive on the ensuing kickoff and kneeled down on his own 3. Winder-Barrow’s defense then forced a three-and-out and took over at the Gladiator 35. Three plays later, Sterling Sumpter spurted up the middle for a 27-yard touchdown run that boosted the lead to 21-7.
On the next drive, the Bulldogg defense forced a fumble and recovered it at the Gladiator 13. The Doggs had to settle for a field-goal attempt, which started off disastrous when the snap skidded on the ground. But Wells, the holder, alertly picked it up, rolled to his right and found a wide-open Sumpter, who trotted into the end zone from there to make it a 28-7 contest.
“The snap was on the ground, but we work on things like that,” Wells said. “I knew I could find a guy and make a play and that’s what happened. We’ve been working hard all summer, giving everything we’ve got day in and day out at practice. To see it pay off with nights like this is great. We’ve got a great team here.”
A veteran and talented Clarke Central squad, coming off a 7-5 season and trip to the second round of the GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs last year, didn’t go quietly. Junior running back Jonathan Sewell, who has already landed SEC offers from Ole Miss and South Carolina, scored on a 41-yard touchdown on the following possession to make it 28-13 after a missed extra-point attempt with 5:33 left in the quarter.
The Gladiators would eventually cut the deficit down to 28-20 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mangel to Xavier Coates with 9:02 remaining in the game. They tied it less than two minutes later when Jaysean Galloway picked up a blocked punt and returned it 25 yards and Mangel hit Jacob Dula in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion.
Clarke Central’s defense held on the next possession and got a big return inside the Winder-Barrow 30 before the critical fumble that set up the game-winning drive for the Bulldoggs.
“It’s too bad for Clarke Central because they played hard, too, but I’m just so proud of our guys for fighting like mad and playing their guts out tonight,” Webb said.
In hindsight, Webb said, the shellacking the Bulldoggs took at the hands of the Gladiators last season turned out to be a blessing in disguise for a program that has reached the state playoffs three consecutive seasons for the first time ever, but is looking to take the next step of winning its first postseason game since 1993.
“(Clarke Central) opened our eyes. That game was a catalyst because it completely changed our football program and made us realize how we need to win ballgames,” Webb said. “We’re just more experienced. We’re grittier. We’re tougher. I’m really proud of the way our kids fight and compete.”
“I feel like we’re more of a family,” Landis added. “Everybody gets along. We come together as a collective group. It’s just a better atmosphere in the locker room and that really shows up in tough games like this.”
—
C 0 7 6 15 — 28
W 0 7 21 7 — 35
W—Brock Landis 26 pass to Jaidon Turner (Omar De La Rosa kick)
C—Ladarius Smith 4 run (William Downs kick)
W—Turner 54 interception return (De La Rosa kick)
W—Sterling Sumpter 27 run (De La Rosa kick)
W—Trace Wells 8 pass to Sumpter (De La Rosa kick)
C—Jonathan Sewell 41 run (run failed)
C—Jack Mangel 16 pass to Xavier Coates (Downs kick)
C—Jaysean Galloway 25 blocked punt return (Mangel pass to Jacob Dula)
W—Landis 17 pass to Noah McDowell (De La Rosa kick)

A year ago, Winder-Barrow was coming off a strong performance against Flowery Branch in a preseason scrimmage before getting blasted 31-0 by Clarke Central in its regular-season opener.
Bulldoggs coach Heath Webb said that game in Athens was “a great learning experience” for his team.
“I think you learn more from losses than you do wins,” Webb said. “We beat a young, inexperienced team in the scrimmage and then I think we got a little overconfident. So I think that helped us learn that every week is different and you have to embrace it.”
The Bulldoggs are by no means overlooking the Gladiators who visit W. Clair Harris Stadium for both teams’ season opener 7:30 p.m. Friday. Second-year coach David Perno’s team is coming off a 7-5 season in 2016 when it reached the second round of the GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs, its first postseason appearance since 2013.
It was a solid start to a career for the former University of Georgia baseball coach who was a player for the Gladiators in the 1980s, but had never coached football at any level prior to last season.
“There’s a learning curve for any rookie coach, and from year one to year two things get much easier,” Webb said of Perno. “He’s done a good job of surrounding himself with some very good veteran coaches who know the drill and how things operate to help him out some. And the players have responded to him very well.”
And the Gladiators, who defeated Class AAAA powerhouse Jefferson in a preseason scrimmage last week, are loaded with returning talent.
Leading the way is senior quarterback Jack Mangel, who threw for over 2,000 yards last season. Junior running back Jonathan Sewell is also back after a 1,000-yard rushing season and is already attracting attention from SEC schools.
“Both those kids are pretty good, and obviously that keeps them very balanced,” Webb said. “If you try to take away the pass, that makes it hard to stop the run, and if you try to load up the box, the quarterback can really hurt you. There just aren’t a whole lot of weaknesses on their roster. They’re pretty solid at every position and there aren’t a whole lot of places we can exploit them. We’re going to have to execute very cleanly on both sides of the ball.”
See the full story in the Aug. 16 issue of the Barrow News-Journal.

Not that the expectations for Winder-Barrow’s softball team coming into 2017 weren’t already high after several seasons of being a playoff contender, but first-year coach Lee Smoak is only seeking to raise them as he prepares to put his own footprint on the program.
“We have made quite a few culture and climate changes within the program that we are very proud of,” said Smoak, who took over for former coach Monty McClure who is now the head girls basketball coach at Jackson County.
McClure led the Bulldoggs to several state playoff appearances — including a trip to the Elite Eight in Columbus in 2013. Smoak had similar success at his previous stop at Burke County, where he took over a fledgling program and led the Bears to four postseason berths, a school-record 17 wins and Sweet 16 appearance in 2016 and the school’s first ever fast-pitch region title.
His aspirations for Winder-Barrow aren’t any different.
“The biggest challenge so far has been altering the mentality of the program as a whole and getting the players used to having higher expectations,” Smoak said. “Our summer program (went) great.
“With the exception of two weeks, we have practiced or played four days a week since the end of May, and our participation has been great.”
The 2017 Bulldoggs will be a veteran bunch with eight seniors and five juniors, but there will still be somewhat of a clean slate. While the Bulldoggs return key players from last year’s team, including senior third baseman Jakayla Sullivan, senior pitcher Alexis Berry and senior Emily Ferguson among others, Smoak declined to discuss his projected starting lineup, saying that players “will earn their starting playing time, not based on seniority but by their performance at practice and as agreed upon by our entire coaching staff to fit the needs of the team as a whole.”
“We have a solid foundation of players that are ready to contribute at a high level,” Smoak said.
“We expect to contend for a region title and not only make the state playoffs, but advance.”
Smoak said he expects the two teams that finished ahead of the Bulldoggs in GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA last year — Dacula and Apalachee — to provide his squad with its most formidable competition.
And, there are plenty of powerhouses on the non-region slate, including defending Class AAAAA champion Buford, Loganville, Greenbrier and Harlem to name a few.
“Our schedule is stacked with opponents that are accustomed to making deep playoff runs, so that’s going to help us a lot,” Smoak said.
The Bulldoggs open their season Thursday at Loganville. First pitch is set for 5:55 p.m.